New spring/summer TV shows

America has exported Jack Bauer to London for the new plot of Fox's "24: Live Another Day," but we're importing, too: A lot of the "new" offerings on TV found success outside the US.

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By SARA SMITH

capecodtimes.com

By SARA SMITH

Posted May. 4, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By SARA SMITH
Posted May. 4, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

America has exported Jack Bauer to London for the new plot of Fox's "24: Live Another Day," but we're importing, too. A lot of the "new" offerings on TV this spring and summer have already found success outside the U.S.

Just like at the movies, the summer season is heating up early, with last week's bow of "Playing House" on USA and Keifer Sutherland and company returning to "24" on Monday. As the season goes on, viewers can check out more than 30 scripted new shows at a time of year that not that long ago was mainly the land of reruns.

Many of these "new" shows have aired first in other countries. So the Swedes have already seen "Welcome to Sweden," "Brooklyn Taxi" hails from France, and British audiences loved Ian McKellen in "Vicious" months before PBS bought it from ITV. NBC and the CW will air Canadian sitcoms "Working the Engels" and "Seed" on a delayed schedule.

After being softened up with "Downton Abbey," we're now regularly forced to wait on other countries to relinquish their shows. This is a big improvement, though, over U.S.-based networks remaking, say, "Coupling" or "Broadchurch" when the original would have sufficed. (It's an old problem: Betty White was once cast in an ill-fated adaptation of "Fawlty Towers.")

And we'll be the ones seeing the new season of "24" right away, even if the real-time format has been relaxed a bit to let Sutherland take a breather (this limited series only has 12 parts). He'll be competing against more new programming than summer usually offers while he does the CIA's dirty work overseas.

Here's what to look forward to:

"Playing House," USA, started Tuesday: Comedians Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham are single gals raising a baby in this tale of parenting high-jinks, which is based on their real-life friendship. With Keegan-Michael Key, Zach Woods and Jane Kaczmarek.

"Jennifer Falls," TV Land, June 4: When a career-focused single mom (Jaime Pressly) loses her job, she and her teenage daughter have to move back in with her mom. With Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor and Ethan Suplee.

"Almost Royal," BBC America, June 21: The network's first shot at scripted comedy follows deluded, stuffy young Brits on their first trip to America.

"Young and Hungry," ABC Family, June 25: Emily Osment is a personal chef for a techie millionaire in this series based on the experiences of a San Francisco food blogger. With Jonathan Sadowski and Rex Lee.

"Mystery Girls," ABC Family, June 25: Former "Beverly Hills, 90210" stars Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling reunite for a show about former TV stars forced into reuniting. Ahem.

"Taxi Brooklyn," NBC, June 25: The French made an English-dialogue, cop-with-sidekick sitcom based on a French movie franchise, filmed it in New York City, and NBC bought it. It's the story of a Marseilles cabbie who keeps getting drawn into crime-fighting, with Chyler Leigh ("Grey's Anatomy") as Detective Cat Sullivan. When the NYPD takes her keys away, she hires recent immigrant Leo (Jacky Ido of "Inglourious Basterds") as her personal driver and consultant. Car chases ensue.

"Vicious," PBS, July 6: PBS is recycling this ratings-busting, six-part Britcom with Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi as a bickering Covent Garden couple.

"Welcome to Sweden," NBC, July 10: This fish-out-of-water story was originally made for Swedish TV, but don't worry: It's (mostly) in English. Greg Poehler (yes, Amy's brother) stars as a guy named Bruce (based on Greg himself) who quits his suit-and-tie job to move to Sweden to be with his girlfriend (Josephine Bornebusch). The Swedes have liked the show enough to order a second season. With Patrick Duffy, Lena Olin, Illeana Douglas and Amy Poehler as herself, with guest stars like Aubrey Plaza and Will Ferrell.

"Working the Engels," NBC, July 10: Already airing in Canada, this sitcom follows the antics of a family forced to run their dead father's storefront law firm or drown in debt. With Andrea Martin and Kacey Rohl.

"Backpackers," The CW, July 14: Twentysomething best buds bounce around Europe frantically searching for a missing fiancee. With Noah Reid and Dillon Casey.

"Seed," The CW, July 14: This Canadian import follows Harry, a single bartender whose ambition seems limited to sperm donation. With Adam Korson and Carrie-Lynn Neales.

"24: Live Another Day," Fox, Monday: This time around, four years after we last saw him, Jack is dodging CIA assassins (ruh-roh!) while trying to stop a game-changing terrorist attack in London (zoinks!). He will no doubt dispatch dozens of very bad people, perhaps with a packet of fish and chips. He'll still be darting about in real time, but the show will now skip ahead in time between some episodes, probably so Jack can sleep. With William Devane as the president, Stephen Fry as the U.K's prime minister, and Benjamin Bratt chasing him around. Also starring Tate Donovan, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Yvonne Strahovski and Michelle Fairley.

"Gang Related," Fox, May 22: Terry O'Quinn ("Lost") is running an anti-gang task force, not realizing his unit has been infiltrated by an undercover gang member (Ramon Rodriguez of "The Wire"). With rapper RZA and Emilio Rivera.

"The Night Shift," NBC, May 27: San Antonio Memorial's overnight crew of doctors are a bunch of irreverent, defiant, possibly stoned and improbably good-looking Army burnouts. With Freddy Rodriguez, Eoin Macken, Daniella Alonso and Jill Flint.

"Halt and Catch Fire," AMC, June 1: This 10-episode period drama takes place in the early-'80s heyday of the IBM PC. A trio of fictional, volatile rogue techies risk it all to join the marketplace. With Lee Pace and Scoot McNairy.

"Murder in the First," TNT, June 9: This one-case-per-season courtroom thriller is the latest project from Steven Bochco ("L.A. Law," "NYPD Blue"). With Taye Diggs, Kathleen Robertson and Steven Weber.

"Chasing Life," ABC Family, June 10: Boston journalist April (Italia Ricci) has a grumpy editor, needy family and confusing love life, and that's before she gets the news that she has terminal cancer. Based on a Mexican telenovela.

"Crossbones," NBC, May 30: With John Malkovich starring as Blackbeard," this show from the creator of "Luther" is based on a journalist's account of what went down in 1715 in the Bahamas. With Julian Sands, Richard Coyle and Nick Blaemire.

"The Last Ship," TNT, June 22: Michael Bay's post-apocalyptic drama series begins with a killer virus wiping out most of Earth, then focuses on the isolated comrades aboard an unaffected naval destroyer. With Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra and Adam Baldwin.

"The Musketeers," BBC America, June 22: This lavishly produced revenge drama is set in a version of 17th-century Paris that feels like the Old West. With Peter Capaldi and Luke Pasqualino.

"Reckless," CBS, June 29: If you like some steamy sex and Southern accents with your courtroom drama, this looks like a sultry candidate. Based in Charleston, S.C., it follows a young lawyer's descent into a black hole of police corruption. With Anna Wood, Georgina Haig and Adam Rodriguez.

"Rush," USA, July 17: A disgraced, pill-popping ER doctor (Tom Ellis) makes his money by patching up L.A.'s rich and famous on the sly. With Sarah Habel and Odette Annable.

"Satisfaction," USA, July 17: An investment banker (Matt Passmore of "The Glades") thinks his marriage is just a little stale, until he finds his wife (Stephanie Szostak of "The Devil Wears Prada") is involved with an escort.

"Penny Dreadful," Showtime, May 11: Someone said, "Let's get Dorian Gray, Dr. Frankenstein, some characters from 'Dracula,' smash together their origin stories, and put them all together in Victorian London so they can fight evil with an explorer, a psychic and a mysterious American." Sounds good. With Timothy Dalton, Eva Green and Josh Hartnett.

"The Leftovers," HBO, June 15: Tom Perrotta, writer of "Election" and "Little Children," teamed up with controversial sci-fi producer Damon Lindelof for this character-focused adaptation of his book about the people who didn't make the cut when the Rapture came. Now they're hanging out in a suburb, clinging to normalcy after 100 people vanish toward heaven. With Justin Theroux, Liv Tyler and Christopher Eccleston.

"Dominion," Syfy, June 19: This supernatural drama, based on the 2010 fallen angel film "Legion," imagines a future after the archangel Gabriel's nearly successful attempt to wipe out humanity. The survivors build an empire on the ruins of Las Vegas (of course) and prove, once again, that wiping the slate clean doesn't make people any nicer. With Anthony Stewart Head and Christopher Egan.

"Extant," CBS, July 9: In this futuristic thriller, Halle Berry is an astronaut who returns to Earth after a year in space with an unwelcome space parasite. With Camryn Manheim and Grace Gummer.

"The Strain," FX, July: Guillermo del Toro's horror series, based on the three books he wrote with Chuck Hogan, follows a heroic CDC scientist (Corey Stoll of "House of Cards") as he leads the fight against a bad outbreak of extra-nasty mutant vampires. With Sean Astin, Regina King and Mia Maestro.

"Legends," TNT, Aug. 20: Sean Bean places himself in peril once more, this time in a tense spy thriller from Howard Gordon, co-creator of "Homeland." The premise is that Bean's deep-undercover FBI agent can physically transform himself into different people with distinct personas. With Tina Majorino, Ali Larter and Morris Chestnut.